Kept Secret
by Onigiri49
Summary: Beast Boy happens across a little girl who is frightened and apparently has run away from home. Beast Boy takes her in and keeps her and her secret hidden from the rest of the team who start to get suspicious the stranger Beast Boy acts around them.
1. The Little Girl

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.**

It was moments after a crime fighting a snail-like monster who called himself Snailworth, and Beast Boy was running through the city in dog form taking up the free time he had before he headed back to the T-tower. It was after dark as the crime took a bit longer than usual - they kept getting stuck in the goo left behind on the pavement; Starfire shot star bolts from her hands which broke the goo freeing them from its confinement. Beast Boy sniffed himself into a dark alley finding a sweet aroma of a ripe banana carelessly thrown in the trash cans which lined up the alley when he suddenly heard soft cries. Beast Boy raised an ear, completely forgetting about the fruit, and headed to where he heard the noise. It was a little girl. Beast Boy, still as a dog, walked being a trash can and found a medium sized cardboard box and the girl cowering inside, her legs bent with arms wrapped around her legs... her head was down helping her tears leave her eyes falling before her. BB whimpered upon seeing her and she retaliated with the same sound. It was so dark now that the girl only saw a fuzzy dog. She couldn't make out his true color. Beast Boy slowly walked up to her and lay down beside her allowing her to cry into his fur. They were both now inside the box next to each other. Just then rain started to fall and it quickly picked up speed. '_sigh_ Guess I'm staying here for the night', BB thought. 'No way am I getting my fur wet. Anyway, this girl looks sad. She needs me here. I'll just bring her back to her family in the morning - she's probably lost - and then go back home in time for breakfast.'

The sun was just starting to rise and the box was soaking through with some water dripping onto the two sleepers. One landed on BB's nose. He instantly woke up, disturbed, but then remembered the girl and looked over at her. She was still sleeping. BB gently moved out of the box so her head resting on his fur wouldn't thump to the ground. Once outside the box BB shook his fur. He accidently woke up the girl who made a soft whimper. Beast Boy turned around and looked at her wondering what he should do. But before he could make a decision she spoke.

"Hi doggy." Her voice was young, but she looked to be about 8 or 9. She seemed frightened, but her words came out kindly. "Are you mistreated too?" BB just stayed there. The girl rubbed her eyes to wake herself up. She yawned and opened her eyes. "Why... why are you green?"

BB walked back a few steps and morphed back into his typical form. He had a serious, but saddened face as he looked at the girl.

"You're not a dog." Her lip quivered. "You tricked me! Everyone always tricks me!" She starts crying and lies down on the ground, head in her arms.

"I'm... I'm sorry." Beast Boy told her. He paused and pointed to himself. "I'm Beast Boy. I'm a member of Teen Titans. We're heroes."

"Heroes?" She sniffed. She looks up at him. "You're the ones... always flying around and hitting bad guys, right?"

"Something like that." BB gave a small smile.

"You save the day. You help people." She stated.

"That's right. So you know about us?" He inquired.

"Yeah huh. I'm not allowed outside, but have seen your team on the tv. You're all really brave. I wish I was brave like that." She said dejectedly.

Beast Boy put a finger to his chin, thinking. "Listen, we should get out of here. Your box got ruined from the rain. We could go back to my place and talk a bit before I find your family. How's that sound?" He smiled at her, but she responded with a frightened look.

"No. Please don't make me go home." Her eyes grew bigger and sadder.

"Okay... we'll talk, okay? Come on. Follow me!" He morphed back into dog form and put a paw on her knee. She stood up and tugged onto his neck letting him lead her back to the T-tower. She clung tightly to him, walking so closely she almost tripped on him, the whole way there.

It was still quite early so the whole team was still asleep in their individual rooms. Beast Boy walked into the T-tower as quietly as he could. His creeping signaling the little girl to be quiet herself until they got to where he was headed. Finally they got to his room and they walked inside, BB closed his door behind him. The little girl stood where she was, she was very still, afraid to go past or let go of Beast Boy. She still clung onto his neck. BB sighed internally. He couldn't morph back now. She seemed comforted with him as a dog, and if he morphed back now she'd have to let go. What ever was the matter with her, it made her really dependent right now on him. He couldn't upset her more. BB gave a soft woof towards his bed and crept over there, the girl going with him. He pointed his head to it and she got the message, letting go, reluctantly, and stood next to the bed, her hands clasped together tightly. BB morphed back into his usual form and got onto his bed, indian style. "Are you okay?" She didn't respond. "Sooo... what's your name?" She pursed her lips together just staring at him with her wide, scared eyes. "Please. I want to help. You're safe now. We're in my room. It's practically sound proof. See?" He pounded on the wall behind him three times. "No one can hear us. We're completely safe in here." He smiled at her confidently, hoping for an answer. She's gotta open up. BB just showed her that the room's fine. Oh please just have her say _something_.

The girl gave a small sigh. "I'm... um... my name's Brenda. Brenda Hall."

"Brenda." He paused wondering what next to say. He glanced over at his clock. It read 5:53. "You look tired. Still want to sleep? You can take my bed. I can sleep on the floor."

"As a doggy? Like before?"

"Yeah!" He grinned. "Just like before. When you wake up I'll have breakfast ready for you, 'k?"

She thought it over for a few seconds. "Okay."

Beast Boy got off the bed and folded the blanket half off allowing her to get on. She timidly climbed into the bed and went under the blanket which he put over her up to her chin. "You'll be safe here. Trust me. I'm a hero." He winked at her and she smiled back a little, closing her eyes.


	2. In The Morning

Beast Boy smiled when he looked at her. She looked more at peace now. She seemed... safe. 'Well I _am _the most awesomest teen titan member ever!' BB bragged to himself. He morphed back into his green dog self, walked in a circle, and placed himself next to the bed on the floor where he curled himself into a sleeping position. When BB woke up his clock read 7:28. Uh oh. The teen titans usually woke up around this time to eat breakfast and then combat practice at 8. Raven sometimes woke up earlier to meditate in peace. Beast Boy headed to his door as quietly as he could, but then he remembered about the girl - she was still sleeping comfortably in his bed. Seeing her reminded him he was still a dog. BB morphed back into his usual self and opened the door normally. When he reached the main room he breathed a sigh of relief that no one was there yet. 'Oh good. It's only me.' he thought. BB smiled broadly and strolled over to the refrigerator assuredly swinging his arms. A few minutes later BB had finished cooking his tofu eggs and waffles when...

"Good morning Beast Boy! Sleep well?" Cyborg yelled out, slapping BB on the back.

"Cyborg??" BB said surprisingly.

"Yeah, that's me." Cyborg said in a happy manner. "Watcha cookin' there? Your nasty tofu stuff?"

"It's not nasty!" Beast Boy yelled back angrily.

"Yeah. Sure. Why so much? Not eat enough last night?" Cyborg asked him.

Beast Boy looked down at his food. He cooked twice as much as usual. "Uh... yeah. I mean no! I mean..." he changed his tone, "I'm Beast Boy! I've got the appetite of a monster!" He gave a cheesy smile. "I'm ravenous!"

Cyborg shrugged to himself indifferently accepting the answer, not thinking twice about it.

'Oh, man. Eating a lot of food makes sense, but what am I supposed to do about the juice?' Beast Boy wondered to himself. Suddenly a light bulb appeared above his head. BB stuck a tongue out of his mouth as he grabbed an extra large cup and put a smaller one underneath it. He filled the large glass with juice up to the top. Then he stacked two plates together and put the eggs and waffles on the top plate. He glanced behind him and saw Cyborg had settled down flipping channels on the tv. BB sneaked two forks and raced out of there with the entire breakfast. When he got to his room he walked in slowly in case the girl was still asleep. He peeked at his bed and saw she was awake, but was staring at the ceiling not moving.

Beast Boy put the food down on the table next to his bed then closed the door behind him before he spoke. If any of the Teen Titans were in the hall and heard him talking they'd realize something was up. "Good morning! I brought you breakfast!" The girl sat up and looked over at him then at the table where she realized she smelled something wonderful. She barely noticed he had come in until he talked. She was lost in her thoughts.

"Do ya like tofu eggs and waffles?! They're healthy and scrumptious!!" Beast Boy grinned, swiftly picked up the plate of food, and presented them proudly to Brenda.

Brenda giggled to herself. "You're funny."

Beast Boy opened his eyes in surprise. "You think I'm... funny?" His eyes gleamed with joy at the compliment.

"Yeah huh." Brenda giggled cutely. "I've never had tofu before. But I've heard of it. My grangran tells me it's a substi... substi..."

"Substitute?" BB provided.

"Yeah! A substitute for meat. My grangran's a vegetarian y'see." She stated.

"Me too!" BB smiled. "I hope you like it! Just give me a sec to prepare it, all right?"

"All right." She politely responded. She watched, captivated by the green creature in front of her, taking care of her. She wasn't sure what he was exactly, but he was so nice that she felt she was safe with him.

BB had put half of his tofu and waffles onto the the plate underneath his own and did the same pouring the juice into the other cup then handed Brenda her share. "Thank-you." She said shyly.

"No problem." BB then frowned. "Aw man! I forgot the maple syrup! I'm so sorry. I was kind of in a rush and must've forgot." He hit himself on the head for being so stupid.

"It's okay. Really." She assured him, sticking her fork into the eggs.

"Whew. Good." BB swiped a hand across his forehead and sat on the floor, letting her stay on his bed, and ate his breakfast. In between bites he tried to have a little chit-chat with the girl.

"So, what's your story?" He questioned. "You didn't really tell me much yesterday."

"I know." That's all she said. She kept eating her breakfast in silence.

BB's ears went down. 'She sure is quiet. Something must be wrong. I wonder if I should tell Robin about her. He'd know what to do.' While BB was contemplating to himself the girl finished up her meal. She drank the juice almost in one gulp. "Wow, you finished fast. You must've been starving!" BB realized he'd only eaten some of his breakfast.

"Heh. Yeah, I was." Her voice went quieter. "I don't eat much."

"Well you'll never go hungry as long as you're with me! You'll be so stuffed of tofu you won't know** what** to do!" BB exclaimed. Again the girl giggled enjoying his company.

At this time BB's watch went off.

"What was that?" The girl questioned him.

Beast Boy realized it's already 8:00. "Ah, I've got combat practice now. Listen, it won't take long. As soon as it's over I'll be right back!" The girl nodded, understanding. "You'll... be okay here? By yourself? Want me to bring something for you?"

"Um..." She hesitated.

"I can bring you comics, are comics good? Oh and hey! Later today I can bring a small tv in here for ya, how's that sound?" He suggested.

She nodded again just staring at him with her big eyes, her soft brown hair falling across her face from the nodding.

BB grinned awkwardly. Her quietness was sort of scaring him. "Great." BB went to the other end of his room and found a couple magazines he had and gave them to her. "These should keep you occupied. Now, don't go anywhere. I'll be back in half an hour."

She stared at him, taking the magazines he handed her. "Thank-you."

Beast Boy left the room to go to the scheduled combat practice.


	3. Fun and games

"I am victorious!" Starfire giggled as she flew down to her teammates. Behind her is the obstacle course, successfully completed. Disks and rocks flown earlier are now laying on the ground in pieces.

"Way to go!" Cybrog pumped a hand into the air.

"You did great Starfire!" Robin complimented her putting a hand on her shoulder. Raven smiled, agreeing, next to him.

"You improved on your time. 9 seconds faster than last time." Raven informed her.

Starfire faced Beast Boy who did the course before her. "Uh, yeah. Great job, Star." Beast Boy said half heartedly.

"You do not think I am victorious? But the rocks - they are crumbled." She pointed a hand to the aforementioned behind her.

"No, no. You did. I just have... something on my mind." Since he had everyone's attention he decided this was a good time to check up on the little girl. He said he'd be back in 30 minutes, having momentarily forgotten practice is a full hour. He can't leave her wondering. What if she gets worried? What if she leaves? "Look everyone. I gotta go... take care of something."

Robin frowned. "But you haven't seen me or Raven go yet. Don't you want to stay and watch?"

"I'll be right back, I promise.." Beast Boy ran off leaving his friends behind with questioning looks.

--

"Brenda?" Beast Boy peeked his head instead the room. The girl was sleeping, snoring actually, with a magazine wide open on top of her. 'She sleeps kind of like Terra.' Beast Boy thought to himself. 'She must've been really tired. I doubt she slept well last night with the rain. I know I didn't.' He quietly closed the door, happy she's okay, and raced back to the practice.

--

It was almost 9 and combat practice had just ended. Beast Boy wanted to see if Brenda was awake now.

"Yo, BB! Wanna play the level of the flying bananas on Monkey Mania 2?" Cyborg called out from the couch, controller in hand. He turned around, "BB?" Beast Boy was gone. "Now where'd he go?"

--

"Is there anything I can get you?" Beast Boy asked Brenda. She's wide awake and smiling.

"No thank-you." She yawned. "I was reading and suddenly fell asleep again."

"Probably was the food. When was the last time you ate, again?" She looked down to the floor.

"Um..." Beast Boy looked at her. "I don't know."

"You don't know?! Don't your parents ever sit down for dinner and stuff?" She shook her head.

"My family... doesn't eat together. When I get food I eat in my room." She told him, matter-of-factly.

Beast Boy frowned upon hearing this. Her living situation before coming here seems... unusual. 'At least she has a nice place to crash at for now.' He looked back at her. Her face was unhappy, thinking about what she had just told him. Probably thinking about her past. He's gotta do something. Anything. 'I know! Kids love funny faces.'

"Hey." She looked up at him. "Check this out." Beast Boy turned his back to her preparing his face. He put on black glasses with a phony mustache and faced her. She laughed. "Wait wait." He took the glasses off and pulled down his lower lip and made a "blehh!" sound. She laughed even harder, watching him with amusement.

Happy with her reaction Beast Boy decided to continue. "Wanna hear a joke?" She nodded excitedly. "Why did the cookie go to the doctor?" He waited to hear her say 'why'.

"Why?" She said on cue.

"He went because he was feeling a little crummy." He burst out laughing at his own joke. "You get it?" She laughed with joy.

"Crummy cookie!" She shrieked happily.

"BB!" Cyborg yelled out BB's name outside his room. "Wanna play video games? Got the system set up, man." He knocked on the door to add to his presence.

"Aw, man. I forgot all about the game! We usually play around this time." He turned to Brenda who stuck out her lips poutingly.

Beast Boy anxiously looked at the door and back at Brenda. He can't leave her. He just got her in a good mood. She might open up to him and tell him what had happened to her. Cyborg can go play chess with Raven.

"Nah, I'm good Cyborg. Go play with Raven!" He told him.

"But Raven sucks at video games. You know that!" He complained.

"Then go play chess. Look, man. I'll see you later, 'k?" He said with a slight tone of disappointment.

"But that's not for another couple hours. She's meditating right now. I can't bother her. You know how she can be." Cyborg rattled on.

Beast Boy growled to himself, quietly enough so that the little girl couldn't hear him. Cyborg can get annoying sometimes. "Just go! I'm sorry. I can't be bothered right now. Just... find something to do!" Beast Boy yelled angrily.

Cyborg backed away from the door. "Yo, sorry man. Didn't mean to bother you." He left, walking down the hall back to the main room.


	4. Beast Boy's story

Beast Boy turned back to Brenda. "Don't mind him. He's just bugging me 'cause he's bored. No one can resist the Beast-man, my humor is irresistible." He raised his eyebrows several times as he does when he's putting on his charm, smiling goofily. Brenda also smiled while holding back a giggle at the silly act.

Suddenly her mood shifted. "I'm sorry." She apologized.

"For what?" BB asked casually.

"I didn't mean to make him mad. But I want you here." She looked almost ready to cry.

Beast Boy held up his hands, assuredly, "No, no it's all right." He sat down next to her. "Need anything? I can run out and fetch you something." He transformed into a hound dog, nose pointed to the door ready for action. Brenda gasped.

"Doggy! You can be more than one kind of doggy?!" She asked incredulously.

Beast Boy went back to normal. "'course. Hey, look at this." BB became a monkey. He leaped off the bed and danced from one leg to the other while chattering up a storm. The little girl loved it! He is too funny!

"Beast Boy?" BB stopped, swiftly transforming back. It's Raven. "Ssssssh," he instructed Brenda, as he stood there frozen in place.

"Uh, yeah? What's up?" He tried to sound innocent.

"Is something wrong? I heard noise." She leaned her ear to his door listening in for any sign of distress. BB sounded... a little strange. 'Something's not right' she reasoned.

"Nothing! I'm good... weren't you meditating? That's what Cyborg told me." He glanced over at Brenda who was still being quiet. She was intensely listening to the conversation.

Raven reiterated, dead-pane. "I heard noise."

"Oh, right." He responded sheepishly. Raven can't concentrate. "Sorry, dude, uh, Raven. I'll stay quiet. I was just... trying out some, uh, comedy acts. Yeah! That's it! Comedy acts!" 'Yeah, that sounds good. She'll buy that. Oh please let her buy that.' He pleaded to himself.

He didn't hear anything. Maybe she left?

"Just stay quiet. I need to meditate." She left.

Beast Boy sighed a breath of relief. "That was close." Brenda was sniffling. "Brenda. What's wrong? I thought we were having fun."

"We were. It's just..." She stopped.

"What? It's just what?" He asked, worriedly, climbing back onto the bed.

"I'm too much trouble. I always am! That's all I am!!" She burst into tears. "I can't do anything right." She wiped her nose with an arm.

"Here." BB grabbed under his bed and took out a kleenex box. She took a tissue from it.

"Thanks." She said meekly.

"Will you please tell me what's wrong? I don't think you can stay here much longer. Your parents must be worried sick about you! I might get in trouble if anyone finds out you're here with me. They could think I'm a kidnapper!" He worried, mostly talking to himself.

"A kidnapper? No no... you're nice. In fact," she sniffled again, "You're the first nice person I've seen." BB smiled warmly at the compliment. In the back of his mind, however, he realized what that signified. "Um... you are a person, right? I mean, what are you?"

"I am a person... a human. I just, had an 'accident' when I was little." Her eyes widened with curiosity. She obviously wanted to hear more of the story.

Beast Boy scooched further back onto the bed and put an arm on her lap. "I'll give the short version. When I was little... I was normal. I had regular skin and regular hair. I looked human. I _was _human. But then something happened and I... got sick. See, a green monkey named Sakutia bit me and my parents tried to cure me. They gave me a serum to help, but it was untested. It was a risk, but they wanted to save me." It was hard thinking back on all this. It must've been years since he thought of his parents - of his past itself. BB spoke unusually softly as he told his tale. "Whatever illness I had, it was rare. It was unknown." He took a pause then continued, "This serum resulted in these powers - my shape changing abilities. I'm... a changeling."

She nodded understandingly, taking it all in. "So then... what happened to your mommy and daddy?"

BB spoke slower. "They died in a flood soon later while boating. It was an accident. It was sudden and... upsetting. No one was expecting it to happen." His voice lowered, "Especially me."

Brenda sniffled again, this time due to the story. "So you are-"

"An orphan." He finished for her. "But my friends now," he brightened up, "they are my parents. They raise me."

"So you joined the Teen Titans right after your parents..." she didn't finish.

"No. Before the Teen Titans I was part of another team: The Doom Patrol. It's where I got the snappy purple outfit here." He grinned. "I did have a mask though, to, uhm, protect my secret identity."

"But you're green." She pointed out the obvious.

"Heh heh. Yeah... I... kind of didn't notice. But the day the Teen Titans met - well, they did. It hid my ears, but well... I still looked green, of course. The others said it looked goofy. I thought it was cool, but... now I know I look better without it anyway." He changed the topic, "After my parents... you know... I wanted to join the Doom Patrol. Put my metamorphosing to good use. At first the team rejected me."

"Why?"

"I sort of broke into their quarters. They thought I was an intruder and so kept me prisoner. I kept trying to escape and I guess they were impressed with my willpower that they figured they could use me as a member of the team. It was the best moment of my life. I finally was a real member of the Doom Patrol!" He reminisced excitedly, "I was with them for a long time until... I made a mistake. I didn't exactly follow an order and they didn't want me anymore. Not until I learned to properly follow orders." He growled beneath his breath, "They treated me like a kid. Sometimes it was as if I didn't even exist. Before I joined the Teen Titans they pushed me around to follow orders exactly, especially the leader - Mento - no matter what it took. Even if a member got hurt." He mentally sighed to himself, closing his eyes. He re-opened them. "As a Teen Titan I met up with the Doom Patrol again and finally stood up for myself - for my friends. For my belief about never leaving a team member behind - about counting on each other to keep our members safe. Our friends. Our... family."

"What happened?" She wondered.

He softened his voice. "The Doom Patrol... I care a lot about them. I learned from them and they helped me grow up and be a better fighter from when I first started. After we, the Titans, joined up with them and succeeded at an important mission, the Doom Patrol realized how good we are. And more importantly, they finally recognized my heroics.

"When I first joined the Doom Patrol I _was_ still training and trying to figure out what I could do with my powers. When I became a Titan I got better." He faced Brenda. "A lot better. I can handle a lot more and my teammates, my family... they're behind me all the way." Yet he was keeping a secret from them. They were always there for him. Why was he shutting them out now? He didn't know the answer. "So that's it. You know my story... now tell me yours."


End file.
